


Beyond the Pale

by Kamaxi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), But also not, Characters Are Dead, Doctor Strange Has a Plan, Fix-It of Sorts, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 12:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14544402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamaxi/pseuds/Kamaxi
Summary: “Who are you?’ Loki felt one shade away from bewildered, and found he didn't like the sensation one bit.The man raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to one side, “Strange.”“Well,” The God of Mischief couldn’t help but snark, “That’s evident.”Giving Thanos the Infinity Stone was something Doctor Strange had to do. Not because there was no hope, but because it was their ONLY hope. In which death...is just the beginning.





	Beyond the Pale

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my Fix-It Fic, my personal headcannon. Please stand by as I struggle not to sink any ships and to remain as loyal to cannon as possible. That said, some deviation will obviously occur, as well as some stretching of limits. I am super excited to write this, and I hope you enjoy! :)

Things on the ship went well for almost two weeks. 

It was around the ten day mark that Loki awoke with a jerk and the firm knowledge that something bad was going to happen. He sat up sharply as if from a nightmare and pressed the heel of his palm against his right eye, a phantom pain mirroring Thor’s latest. As he fought to catch his breath, Loki allowed his mind to race, running through each possible scenario of how things could go horribly wrong. 

Likely he would be blamed for it, as was the way of things. Truly, a man engages in misdeeds a few times and suddenly whenever there is trouble somehow it’s his fault? Well, Loki conceded to himself, probably near two-thirds of those claims were accurate, but could a God of Mischief be held accountable for acting as his nature dictated?

Besides, all of that was firmly behind him. 

Asguard; the only home he had ever known, the realm of his adopted ancestors and his chosen people, was gone. Destroyed in a wave of chaos. If there was ever a time for Aesir to put aside their differences and work together to rebuild, it was now. And though Loki was not Aesir through birth, he felt comfortable in no other skin, and among no other people.

The loud sounds of revelry broke him from his thoughts, and the god scowled in the direction of the noise. His chosen people the Aesir may be, but sensitive to threads of fate and magic, they most definitely were not. And Loki knew again with reinforced certainty that something bad was going to happen. He felt it like ice under his skin, gripping even his Jotun heart in a vise. He had the choked half-thought to go to Thor and make sure his brother yet lived, but even that seemed...not quite right.

No. Thor was alive. All was well on the ship. Which meant that some outside force would quite likely bring whatever chaos Loki felt brewing in the cosmos.

“Hey. Worm.” the Valkyrie stood in his doorway, leaned up against the frame. Her face was a mask of pure disdain, “Your brother wants you in the throne room. Now.”

Loki sneered, “Ah yes, the last of her kind--a washed up drunk. What a pleasure to be in your presence, as always.” The god folded his hands in his lap in the picture of a demure, “Tell me--is it customary for you to enter the bedchambers of your prince uninvited? Or are you so eager for power that you’ll do anything to get ahead?”

Predictably dull, as usual, the Valkyrie refused to rise to the bait, instead staring at him with the same stony eyed indifference.

“I think we both know, of the two of us, who is the one with a lust for things they shouldn’t have,” she scoffed. “Besides, if I was interested in a prince, you would think I would go for the one with the true power around here, no?” The smirk that played out on her face lit a flame of ire in Loki’s chest, but he pushed it away.

Loki stood, and in a curtain of seidr, changed into his everyday finery. He made a half gesture towards the doorway where Valkyrie still stood. “Well, you have told me my brother awaits my presence, and since you fancy yourself his Chamberlain, I see no reason to keep him waiting.”

She rolled her eyes, and with a grunt, she was out and down the hall, hardly caring if the prince of Mischief was following or not. Of course, never one to give up (or to know when to give up) Loki followed after her, casually taking in the surroundings of the ship. The disturbance was still ever present in the air, but it was untraceable. Whatever matter that caused Thor to summon him didn’t seem to be the cause of Loki’s ill ease. 

Gleefully, he waited until they were within sight and earshot of Thor before he spoke,“If you’re truly after my brother, you’ll be sorely mistaken to think that he’ll go for the likes of you. Our entire race is practically extinct and you’re still so far beneath his notice it’s laughable.” He’d thought to wound her pride, or annoy her at least. Loki was unprepared, however, for the derisive snort of laughter that echoed through the hall and sent every pair of eyes their way.

“Please! I wouldn’t sleep with Thor if he were the last man in the galaxy. I prefer my partners with more... _curves_ , if you get my drift. But _you_!” Valkyrie let out another cackle, and this time Loki couldn’t suppress his scowl, “You accuse me of trying to tempt the Allfather to get in his favor, and yet of all the beings here, none have tried to get his attention so aggressively as you yourself!”

The room had gone as silent as death, as each set of faces peered curiously at the terse exchange. Waiting, Loki assumed, for his grandiose reaction. Waiting for him to make a mistake and show them that he was and ever would be something other than Aesir. Even the Valkyrie, who had been in exile for centuries had been accepted back into the fold with open arms. Loki couldn’t pretend that didn’t sting. Of all the people of Asguard, only Thor had ever considered him kin. Loki could feel his brother’s eyes on him, just as well as the others, but he couldn’t bring himself to meet that gaze.

Valkyrie was good, he had to admit. Better, even, than he gave her credit for. But he wasn’t called Loki Silvertongue purely in jest. Loki could practically hear Thor begging him to rein himself in. Ignore such an affront to his pride? But the lingering dread stilled a good portion of his ire, and he found himself deflecting rather than eviscerating.

“Do you think to mock me? As if I haven’t heard such salacious insinuations before, from beings far more important and clever-witted than you?” Loki said with disdain, “Thor and I may have our differences, but ours is a bond forged beyond blood, tempered by decades of constant companionship and as unbreakable as Heimdall’s gaze.” Loki neglected to mention that his seidr was capable of doing that very thing. It hardly seemed important. Instead he stepped closer to the throng of people in the makeshift throne room, until he stood before Thor.

“In the past, I admit that I have transgressed. My nature has dictated such that I am far from an innocent. Have I not, however, come forward in Asgard's time of need? Have I not proven, dear people, that my concern for our fate outweighs any suspicion of treasonous acts?” 

The room was silent, but Loki had accomplished enough to get the conversation off of speculations that could end in disaster. One needn’t forget that the Tesseract was still in his possession, hidden away. One whiff of that to Thor, and Loki wasn’t sure what his brother would do. Thor was shortsighted. He could never understand why Loki wouldn’t tell him everything, why some things were better kept safeguarded until their use was necessary.

Thor was the first to break the silence, a wide smile on his face, “Well said, my brother!” he called. “Come, sit at my side. Today we consult the charts and plot our next course.” Loki noted with a point of pride that there was minimal grumbling from the chorus as he was awarded this honor. _Baby steps,_ the god thought to himself, _Breaking faith is easy, rebuilding trust is much harder._

As the day progressed, Loki had almost forgotten the sense of dread that had woken him with a certainty, in the same way that he had resisted thinking about the Tesseract and what its secrecy represented.

 

\------------------------

Thanos was upon them almost the moment they became aware that an attack was taking place. An energy blast to the starboard hull of New Asgard had penetrated both shields and armour, and a second shot took out the power and life support. Thor had gone to keep the Titan and his followers busy while Loki aided the Valkyrie in ensuring as many of their people as possible could escape in the emergency transport. Likely Thor had expected Loki to join them, desired it even, but the thought was somehow unconscionable.

 _How droll I’ve become_ , Loki bemoaned, _Choosing the Hero’s death. Heinous._ But despite his disdain, leaving Thor and those of his people unlucky enough to be caught by Thanos felt wrong.

He passed over supplies to men, women, and children alike as they rushed into the transport, nudging their shoulders as he did so to get them to move just a bit faster. The Valkyrie was behind him, barking orders, organizing groups to ensure everyone that could be reached was on board. She clicked through the ship’s navigation system and cursed.

“Thanos’ cannons will spot the transport the minute it detaches. These stealth shields wouldn’t fool even a brainless, lumbering Jotun.”

Loki rolled his eyes, “Classy.” 

Valkyrie shrugged, unrepentant, “It’s a stereotype for a reason. Regardless, we are sending these people to die if we release this ship as it is now.”

He made a noise of frustration that lasted but a few seconds before suddenly bursting into action. Grabbing the Valkyrie’s shoulders, Loki all but shoved his prickly companion past the threshold onto the transporter ship. She whipped around, fist ready to meet his face, but the god deflected it.

“I know you hate me, but these people are innocent! Using our lives as a diversion for your own escape? You would sink to those depths?” Valkyrie twisted from the mischief god’s grasp and swiveled into a roundhouse kick.

Loki caught her leg and used it to shove her further in the cabin and up against the console. “I would not do that,” he urged, uncharacteristically grave, “We don’t have time for this. You need to swear you will protect these people of Asgard, as your kind have done in ages past. Do you swear?”

“Even I can’t deflect a cannon beam from inside a ship!” she spat.

His hand tightened around her ankle, “Do you swear?”

A crash echoed through what remained of the halls and sent the alarm system ringing. It was clear that Thor was losing the battle outside. Tears pricked the edges of the Valkyrie’s eyes. She took in the sight of the traitor prince, eyes wild and grip tight as he demanded she protect their people. 

“I swear.”

He let out a sigh and let go of her ankle, releasing a breath that Valkyrie might have labeled relief, had she any belief in Loki’s ability to be sincere. 

“Thank you.” 

“I still can’t--!” But he cut her off with a wave and stepped out of the transport ship. Within seconds, the doors were closed and the ship had taken off to the pre-loaded coordinates. Valkyrie braced herself for the cannon fire, but instead she felt the oddest sensation running down her spine, like fingers tickling her and turning her very being effervescent.

 _Seidr._ She rushed to the window, others following as they realized what was happening. In the distance they could just make out Loki, a beacon of deep purple seidr radiating as he expended himself to get them to safety.

_Well I’ll be damned._

Meanwhile, Loki held the stealth spell until he could feel that the ship had gone beyond the sensor range of Thanos’ weapons systems. A small part of him wanted to kick himself for staying on New Asgard, when it was undoubtedly now the harbinger of certain death. However, he had done what he could with what he had. The Aesir would live on through the survivors of New Asgard, and Loki would either emerge from this battle victorious, or die in glorious battle, side by side with Thor, as was his destiny.

“Not, er…” he coughed, “Not really all that bad when you look at it?”

Loki wasn’t given time to dwell on that thought before a giant clawed weapon rent through the metal of the outer ship and sent him flying out into space from the change in pressure. Cursing at the disorientation and the sudden cold, he struggled to orient himself in the vast darkness. An explosion sent him hurtling even farther from the ship, which had now been torn in two, the inside entirely exposed.

He blinked, trying to get his eyes to focus. Where was Thor? How long had he managed to hold off Thanos? Certainly far longer than any other being alive. What did they have to their advantage? What did Thanos want? The Tesseract…

_No. Certainly not. Thanos cannot be here for the Tesseract. No one knows that I have it in my possession. It was believed to have been destroyed on Asgard!_

Magic coated the entire area like a thick cloak. It was that same sense of wrongness that Loki had woken up to this morning, that had felt like an age ago. It was the same overwhelming power that radiated from the Infinity Stone inside the Tesseract. It was possible that the signatures were one and the same. 

He pinpointed the origin of the seidr and made his way there, stealthing himself in a cloaking spell as he went. Sure enough, Thanos had Thor trapped, battered and bleeding amid a pile of rubble. The Aesir that had been unlucky enough to be in this section of the ship when it fell lie scattered under debris, dead or dying. The prince of Asgard clenched his fists.

Thanos knew he was there. He had Thor; he had Loki in the palm of his hand, for all that Loki now would never allow Thor to die while he could stop it. _Strange how things change_ , the mischief god mused, _and how they stay the same_. He’d surrendered the Stone to save Thor’s life, and supplicated himself before the Titan because what else could he do? He claimed himself Odinson before Thor, their eyes meeting and saying more in that instant than words ever could. The lies were there and smooth as butter on Loki’s tongue as he swore his everlasting loyalty to Thanos, knife gripped in his palm, ready to strike. 

It wasn’t unusual for Loki that his ‘everlasting loyalty’ didn’t last too long. The final thought he had as he felt his seidr fading from his body was to wonder if, after everything, he would be granted Valhalla and the knowledge that he would see his family again.

 

\-----------------------------

Death was cold. And foggy. And oddly wet. Death, Loki decided, felt an awful lot like the windy moors where he had last seen his father (because he was done denying Odin, enough had been enough). For an instant the god wondered if he was actually back on those moors, and Odin would come out and tell him that the past few months had been a test, and he had passed and could come home now, to Asgard.

Instead, Loki opened his eyes and saw a vast plane of nothingness. The sky was lit, though no star was visible, and the ground was incomprehensible--a mass of shapes and geometric patterns that had no discernable beginning or end. He tried to wrap his head around what he was seeing and immediately began to feel dizzy.

“I wouldn’t stare at that too much, if I were you,” a lightly accented voice called out from behind him, “When something that _can’t_ exist is viewed by someone who _shouldn’t_ exist, things tend to get a bit dicey.”

Loki whirled around to face the voice, hands at the ready to draw upon his seidr to conjure a blade. He discovered he could not.

A man stood a few yards away, in a spot Loki could have sworn was empty not moments ago. He had dark hair and pale skin with an intricately curated moustache and beard. He wore brocaded robes, a red velvet cape, and had even further embellished himself with a medallion that spoke of the craftsmanship from Vanaheim of old. Loki would have taken the man for Midgardian, if not for the fact that he clearly had power beyond that of a mere mortal. In sum--he was an enigma.

“Who _are_ you?’ Loki felt one shade away from bewildered, and found he didn't like the sensation one bit.

The man raised an eyebrow and cocked his head to one side, “Strange.”

“Well,” The God of Mischief couldn’t help but snark, “ _That’s_ evident.”

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned for more:
> 
> _“Strange.”_
> 
> _“Well,” The God of Mischief couldn’t help but snark, “That’s evident.”_
> 
> _The strange man pursed his lips and managed to look nonplussed, “No, that’s my name. Dr. Strange. And yes--” he cut Loki off before he could speak, “It is fitting. Thank you. Now come along,” he turned and began walking in the other direction, waving over his shoulder, “We don’t have the time to be sitting here, and this part of the stasis won’t be safe for much longer.”_
> 
> _Giving another nervous glance to the shifting geometric shapes on the floor, Loki begrudgingly began to follow. “ I must say, Valhalla has seen better days.”_


End file.
